Recently heard

Underworld - Barking

Underworld released their eighth album, and things seem to be slowing down. A slew of producers have their spoons in this stew and results are somewhat disappointing. The album starts strong up to new drum-n-bass-floavored single Scribble. But after that it's more of the same, but not as good. Karl Hyde is sounding more and more like a disco David Byrne (which is not necessarily bad), but he's sounding tired too.

Robyn - Body Talk Part 2

On the other hand, Robyn is proving to be the woman with a plan. The release of Part 2 from her Body Talk project delivers another solid set of pop pills with a hip-hop, hardcore sensibility that sets the Swedish pixie apart. She ended the last Body Talk with an acoustic version of Hang With Me, which is pumped up with beats on Part 2 (which also ends with an acoustic version...) The songs are fresh and Robyn sounds confident wether she's rapping or singing ballads -- or having a duet with Snoop Dogg.

DVAS - Society

But my most recent favorite is this release by Toronto-based DVAS. The Canadian dance group has served up a healthy slice of disco beats, 80s synths and melodic electronica. Lead single Society is a synthpop gem and elevates their game.

Chico Xavier

This biopic addresses the life of the most famous Brazilian medium ever. Francisco Cândido Xavier could talk to spirits since he was a child and despite the difficulties this brought to him, he dedicated his life to being the ultimate "ghost writer," passing down messages from the dead to the living. In the process, Chico Xavier became a center figure in the Spiritist movement in Brazil.

Released this year in Brazil (8 years after Chico's death), the movie is exceptionally directed and acted. The cast is loaded with soap opera superstars and Christiane Torloni gives a particularly riveting performance as a mother waiting for news from her dead son.

Director Daniel Filho does a great job of recreating the backwoods of rural Brazil and Chico's height of popularity in the 60s and 70s. The characterization of the actors who interpret Chico in different ages is also spot-on.

Nélson Xavier, Daniel Filho e Ângelo Antônio

The movie is ingenious in framing its narrative around Chico's famous 1971 appearance on live television when he was grilled by reporters and the public on all kinds of different topics regarding the spiritual world and the human condition.

The movie never loses sight of its protagonist, a special man who wasn't without faults. It feels real. Meanwhile, this year's Nosso Lar ("Our Home," based on a seminal Spiritist book that describes life after death) looks more science fiction than esoteric philosophy.

Only in Brazil

A year-and-a-half-old baby was run over by the ambulance supposed to pick him up and take him to his physiotherapy. The driver was drunk. The child died.

Toronto International Film Festival

So the TIFF is on again. The best description of its new home, the Bell Lightbox, came from a food review:

"... a monolithic block-long Sears store covered in black aluminum siding, with a generic 46-storey condo plopped on top and a restaurant on the first floor."

Yes, to house such an exciting event, the building is kind of boring. And it doesn't look at all like a "light box"...

My new favorite image

I finally got around to reading Brian Azzarello's run on Superman. Even though it starts full of promise in the first volume (Superman going to confession?), the second descends into some utopia nonsense with lots of unnecessary fights. Jim Lee's art though is impeccable. Check out his Wonder Woman.

Dancing iconography

Some videos I saw recently and I thought somehow went together in their morphing natures.

This new video by animation studio FILM BILDER, directed and animated by Andreas Hykade, has already received many awards for both music and animation.

This video collage was photographed and animated by Nina Paley and is supposed to illustrate the derivative nature of art. All figures were photographed at the Met in New York.

Another one from FILM BILDER, this one contains the art of nine designers in a video for the German hip-hop band Freundeskreis.

Lastly, the ever humble Kanye West is some sort of deity in his new “art video” directed by Marco Brambilla (author of the elliptical and ambitious Civilization.)

Brazilian Day

The second annual Brazilian Day in Toronto attracted thousands to Dundas Square, mostly to watch Ivete Sangalo, self-proclaimed “queen of Brazil.”

Ivete proved she can make the crowds move in the northern hemisphere as well as she can in the southern. She delivered hit after hit, but remains “the biggest star you’ve never heard anything about” in Canada.

Despite some goofy choreography, the concert was effective in getting people off the floor. Ivete was funny and in a great mood. She had just come from New York where she performed at Madison Square Garden for 15 thousand people. Even though Brazilian Day Canada was a much more modest event, Ivete was as enthusiastic as ever. She greeted the crowd in Portuguese, English and French, was gracious with fans and wasn’t afraid of the few drops of the rain she felt. Thankfully, she didn’t talk much about her newborn baby (whose name is also Marcelo.)

In the crowd, the diverse face of Brazil in Canada. And line-ups everywhere, in good Brazilian style.

My new favorite image (part 2)

From hilarious cartoon blog Cat Versus Human.

My new favorite image

The Man KISS by illustrator James Blagden for KING magazine, 2007.

Scissor Sisters

The Sisters were in town Tuesday night with their Night Work Tour at the Sound Academy.

For a pop group with queer sensibilities, Jake Shears and company turned out a show that was more rock 'n roll than dance. Since their sophomore album, the Sisters have ben struggling with an identity crisis: wanting to be taken seriously by the industry, yet known for their tongue-in-cheek camp, the band is trying to strike a balance between mainstream and underground. Unfortunately, they were more fun when they took themselves less seriously.

Not that they didn't try. Former go-go stripper Jake Shears is a bundle of manic energy in a tight little gym body with an aerobic performance of sustained falsettos and disco moves. I could barely get a picture of him in focus.

Ana Matronic looked demure in comparison, with a severe hairdo and clunky accessories.

The pair have good chemistry on stage and had one thing in common: their outfits were equally atrocious.

In terms of production value, the Night Work Tour could have used a little more sparkle. But the most disappointing part was opening act Casey Spooner, of Fischerspooner fame, who was stilted, amateurish and failed to engage the audience.

On the other hand, the Sisters' presence on stage is undeniable. They may not be as edgy and new as they were when I first saw them live in Lawrence, Kansas in 2005 (The Return to Oz?), but their concert is still entertaining, tight and high-energy. Highlights were Invisible Light, I Don't Feel Like Dancing (naturally) and the encore double-whammy of Filthy/Gorgeous and new single Any Which Way.

Overall, an energetic show that lacked a certain glitz and glam that put the band in the map in the first place. At least the view from Polson Pier had enough shine to make up for whatever was missing on stage.

The L Tower

No, it's not the Lex Luthor tower. This L Tower is going on top of the Sony Centre (former Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts) and should be done by 2012. At least it's something more interesting to look at in the sea of new condos coming up these days in Toronto.

The Shakespeare Experiment

Buddies In Bad Times presented an academic experiment this weekend, having three different directors enact a scene from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (the death of Cleopatra), resulting in three radically different interpretations.

The point was to examine rhetorical gesture and the representation of gender in theatre (the thin line between men interpreting women and drag queens). Sky Gilbert read his entire paper on the subject at the end. The actors were University of Guelph theatre students.

My new favorite image

Fan Expo

Fan Expo was in full force this weekend in Toronto. The convention is an all encompassing (and delicious) media smorgasbord including gaming, movies, anime and, of course, comic books. Part Halloween party, part industry launchpad, this year's show was packed to the gills and the lineups were a nuisance, but overall, fun was had by all.

And a chance to hear Spider-Man's father, the legendary (and charmingly self-effacing) Stan Lee talk about his days in the Marvel bullpen -- priceless.

And guess who was taking pictures...

Buskerfest

Sights from the annual street performers festival to benefit Epilepsy Toronto. "Bizarre. Fantastic. Engaging."